Hello dear friends, it has been too long! Looking back at what we left you with, we are shocked we haven’t published anything since April 2018! Yet, that is when life started changing for us here at FGG Designs. Before we dive back in to everything, we thought it best to publish a post that gives you an update on what has transpired in the last year and a bit. We’ll end this post with what we hope to see happening in the future, and what you can be expecting from us. So, without further ado, let’s travel back to Summer 2018.
We left you with the beginnings of our podcast series and we were going through some of the fundamentals of each of our crafts. As of now, we won’t be jumping back into podcasting just yet, but, Lord willing, that may come back in the future.
Our business went on hold for a while as we embraced the changes that were coming – some of which we knew, others that we had only hoped and prayed for.
The Changes
It all started when we took a road trip up to the northern western states in hopes of finding a place to move to that would provide for three families, potentially four. We had reached out to a number of churches along the route we would be taking, to ask for their prayer and direction in the areas we were visiting. The Lord placed it on some of these church’s hearts to provide us with either a meal and/or a place to stay. We want to express our deep gratitude to each of these churches and their pastors who we have been able to connect with and for all the insight that they have given us (even beyond the extent of our trip). Since we were driving this trip, we chose a route that had us pass through as many States as we could. We obviously started off in Southern California and started heading north through Nevada, the tip of Arizona, Utah, Southeast Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, North Idaho, and Washington. On our way back south we hit Southwest Idaho, a touch of Oregon, North Nevada, and back into California. Our main focus at the beginning of the trip was the northern part of Idaho, more specifically the Coeur d’Alene area as that is where Jonathan had visited numerous times on business trips. That’s what really spurred on this road trip. Without going too much further (and ending up writing a book), we came away from this trip with our eyes opened and amazed at the northwest part of Montana. Who knew this place was so beautiful!? The connections we made there had a big influence to why we liked Montana so much, but even the area was breathtaking.
Upon our arrival home, Jonathan started his hunt for houses. We had a very unique living arrangement that we were looking for. If the Lord allowed, we wanted to find a place that would house three to four families (with their own areas), allowed a place for the business to expand, and of course a place for ministry. We knew this would only be possible if the Lord allowed it to happen, since this wasn’t an easy find. Over the next few months, we had come across a few options, but only one stood out. It was ideal: it had enough bedrooms for all the families and more, a full basement perfect for the business, and an amazing 2400 sq. ft. room that we dubbed the “ministry room”. It was almost too perfect. The Lord blessed us with some friends who turned out to live only 30 minutes south of this location. We mentioned the property to them, and if they were ever in the area to give us their perspective. Without us knowing they were so close and travelled past it regularly, the very next day, they had gone up to view the place and got some more pictures and videos for us. They even offered to contact a realtor and go view it for us. When they did, they even drew out a floor plan for us. Now, before we continue, we need to take a slight detour and mention another major change that happened in the middle of all this.
I don’t believe it had been mentioned on either our blog or podcast before, (though it had been on our Instagram page: @fggdesigns), but a very special miracle was taking place during this whole process. That’s right, Elisabeth was pregnant and due to give birth the end of August 2018. Her pregnancy went very well. Baby was nice and comfy in the womb and decided to stay in there a little longer than expected. Finally, after an intense seven plus hour back labor, a beautiful, baby boy was born on September 9, 2018 at 4:53 am, weighing 8 pounds and measuring 21 inches long. He was named Asher Shai, meaning “happy (or blessed) gift” … and he truly lives up to his name.
Back to the potential house. Just a few days after Asher was born, Jonathan and Kent flew out to Montana to look at a couple of properties and to learn more about this house. It looked to be a fixer-upper, but the potential was great. It definitely had all the space we needed – and more. Buying a house isn’t a quick and easy task, especially when you throw in two additional families, so you can imagine all the discussion taking place amongst us. Between the time of the men’s return and the end of November, we were continually in prayer and discussion, and concluded this was the property we wanted to pursue. (Oh, and we may mention, since the end of September we slowly began sorting and packing things… we knew the Lord was going to move us somewhere even though we didn’t exactly know where yet.)
After Thanksgiving of 2018, we put in an offer on the house and thus began the process of buying that property. The Lord was with us through it all and allowed us to buy the house with a small mortgage. We have named it “Corban House” which means “given to God”. This house isn’t ours, it’s the Lord’s and it’s our prayer that He will be glorified through our stay in this earthly home.
Another detour. In June of 2018, Michael met a special girl which quickly turned into a special relationship and in December 2018, he asked her a most special question to which she answered with a big, special “yes”! Now things changed a little. After communicating with the engaged couple, they decided to stay behind in California, where they had their jobs and her family. (We still pray the Lord may move them to Montana someday.)
April 1, 2019 – no joke – we moved! We had arrived in our new State, at our new home. We’re dreaming, surely. We’ll wake up soon in the middle of the city and realize it’s all a dream… we still haven’t woken up; it must be real!
Once Christmas was over, packing went into full swing. We barely remember what took place over those next few months since our heads were in boxes. We were beyond blessed by the amazing help and love expressed by our dear family and friends. Especially at the end of our time, and it seemed that nothing was going right anymore, the Lord gave us grace through our friends who lifted burdens for us. No words can describe or express the love and thankfulness we felt during those times.
In July, we travelled back to California to attend and witness the union of Michael and Bethany. The Lord allowed them to come visit Montana in September for Asher’s first birthday. They were able to see the house and area which we now call home.
Now it’s October 2019, we’ve had many workers come and go the past months renovating our home into three “apartments”. Because of this work, we haven’t been able to unpack and settle in as much as we had hoped. We’ve made little temporary areas for dining and visiting, but we’re not “home” yet. It has been a trying time, but we know God is sovereign and His timing is perfect. We have grown in our patience and contentment as our expectations haven’t been met, and once again rely on the Lord for His will to be done in His timing.
Since our move, we have found a home church and made many connections and even established some great friendships. Shaun has found a job as a groundskeeper for The Shire of Montana which he absolutely loves! In his free time, he still manages to carve some things. We are loving the changing seasons, the simplicity of life, and the quietness of the area.
Framing for the closet renovation. 
Beginning stages of closet renovation. 
Workers observing work being done on entryway. 
The front door before painting. 
The Front Door after painting. 
Looking out of the garage.
We have also made our business a Montana LLC and hope to start making products again soon.
What to Expect
Now that you have heard about all the amazing ways the Lord is working in our lives, we want to let you know what you can expect from us going forward. At the publishing of this post, we are still in the middle of construction. By God’s grace we are nearing the end of it, even though there is still loads to do. Because of this, we aren’t unpacked and settled yet. This, unfortunately, does affect the business a little bit. Although the production process has slowed down, we still have a large selection of items ready to be sold. This post will launch our stock clearance where we’ve discounted all our products to make way for new (and better) products. We hope to sell most, if not all, of our current stock so that we can have a fresh start once the time comes for production to pick up again.
At this point in time we won’t be posting too many blogs, and podcasts won’t be seen for quite a while. We do intend to post more frequently on Instagram with more behind the scenes content, just so you know we still exist. 😉
If you have any special requests, please reach out to us via email (elisabeth@fggdesigns.com) and we can discuss the details further together.
A Hopeful Future
The hope still remains (as it did when we formed the business) that FGG Designs will become a sustainable income for our families and that we can devote our full attention to the business. In order to accomplish that, we need to proceed with the business being a side business until we have the clientele we need. Those of us who have more time available hope to spend more time producing and marketing. It takes a lot to get a handcrafted business established in the way we hope to accomplish.
With all that being said, we are so grateful to all of you for your continued support and prayers. You know we present quality which is why you keep coming back.
We would like to ask you a favor, if you have and use any of our products (whether you purchased or were gifted it), would you please consider leaving a review of that product (if you haven’t done so already)?
We all know that word of mouth speaks volumes, so we would like new customers to know what they can expect when purchasing one of our products.
As we close this update, we just once again want to express our gratitude to you, but most importantly to Christ our Savior! Without His guidance and grace, we wouldn’t even be where we are today – a beautiful home in the “banana belt” of Montana.
To God be the Glory!
– The FGG Designs Team
